Towing a big box and controlling SWAY

TrickTruck · Mar 30, 2015

Picked up my new Toyhauler this weekend. Live in SC and picked it up in northern Indiana. Forest River Work and Play 34wrs. It's a 34' box, 41' overall. GVW 16,000. Double 7k axles. G rated tires.

Used the Reese Straightline 1700lb hitch which has built in no-sway.

The trailer is quite the handful in the wind. Yea, I know, it's not a 5th wheel and it's like a giant sail, but still, I'd think I could get it better.

Truck pulls it like a dream. Truck is a deleted and tuned '12 with gearhead tunes. Gets about 9mpg which is about half what it gets empty. Stops just fine. Downhill on the turbo brake it does pretty well too.

But the sway is really a white knuckle experience in wind.

I'm loaded pretty good on the hitch though. 2500lbs which is too much I know. Normally the trailer won't be empty so it'll have toys (bikes & ATVs) in the back to counter balance it and get some tongue weight off. Trailer had 9350 on it's axles. W/ the load leveling hitch we got 900lbs on the front axle and the rest is on the rear end.

Yes, I know it's not a dually and that would make things better, but these nittos do quite well compared to something like a BFG.

A couple things occur to me to help this issue.

1 and probably the biggest factor would be to shorten the receiver hitch. It's gotta be sticking out 1' from hitch to ball. I'm sure I could modify it and slide it in another 8-10" which would reduce the leverage on the truck signifigantly.

2 would be some airbags, though with better balance on the trailer maybe I don't need them.

3 Traction bars. Plant that rear end a little tighter.

Anyway what do y'all think?

So a cou

sootie · Mar 30, 2015

air bags and be done

ToMang07 · Mar 30, 2015

sootie said:
air bags and be done

Yup.

TrickTruck · Mar 30, 2015

really? Airbags make that much difference on sway control?

Buck1 · Mar 30, 2015

Airbags will help for sure. Throw some of the weight back forward on steer axle. What pressure you running in your tires?

Lethalthreat7.3 · Mar 30, 2015

Air bags for sure. Amazing how much better heavy loads are handled.

truckman1974 · Mar 30, 2015

I installed a Hellwig sway bar on mine but haven't pulled with it yet to see how much it helps.... Do these sway bar kits REALLY help? I was looking at buying a 34' dual car hauler....

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16179

and I had to add Hellwig Adjustable Endlinks 14"-17" (because of my Lift).

dsmracing1 · Mar 30, 2015

Air bags will do some but far from the solution. I run air bags and use a Blue OX Sway Pro for my Elevation 36ft bumper pill toy hauler. Made a huge difference. I'd try that before installing bags even though I think you should do that too. Running a sway and equalizer system will not only help with sway control but the equalizer will have the same effect as air bags, putting more weight back on the front axle and taking some off the rear...

jbair14 · Mar 30, 2015

Air bags will only help, but won't be the final solution. With my 6.4 I pulled a buddies bumper pull toy hauler and had air bags, and traction bars but not an equalizer hitch. The trailer still had a lot of sway in it. I think a good addition would be a sway bar. I can't believe the new trucks don't have sway bars stock, they should be standard factory equipment and not an added option.

Dzchey21 · Mar 30, 2015

I have always had good luck with Timbrens and a good equalizer hitch and really put it on tight, helps keep the front end loaded with more weight. I tow a 20 foot flat bed bumper pull with crew cab long bed dually on it all the time and its comparable to a gooseneck.

Sleepersilverado · Mar 30, 2015

I don't have that kind of trailer but it looks like you hitch is not set up correctly. One of the guys here at the shop has a similar sized trailer and he showed me a picture with his 6.0 and it looked like yours. He went to a hitch place and paid them to properly set it up and everything set level.

A few things i remember him saying is he could not believe how tight they wanted him to tighten the sway control on the hitch.The torsion bars were parallel with the ground thus putting more weight on the front end of the truck. He said when they were done two people bounced on the tongue of the trailer and it did not move. It was explained to him that the torsion hitch is to help the entire truck carry the load like a goose neck.

Just a thought, he said it was a night and day difference with the hitch properly set up.

sagebel · Mar 30, 2015

I would check your hitch set up. You should be able to distribute more weight to the steer axle with the bars. I had a Helwig Big Wig rear sway bar on my '11 F250 it was night and day over the stocker. Might want to give it a try.

mandkole · Mar 30, 2015

2500# tongue is pretty high and that's pretty long for a 2 axle tag. Is that dry weight? If so, damn... Im amazed that you had sway with that much weight on the tongue. Normally, I don't get sway until more weight moves to the back of the trailer.

What WD hitch are you using? Whats it rated for? As others have said, the bags will support the leveling of the truck, but you'll definitely want to play with some sway control, tire pressure, tires, etc. Theres a lot of influences that you'll need to sort through.

lincolnlocker · Mar 30, 2015

Dzchey21 said:
I have always had good luck with Timbrens and a good equalizer hitch and really put it on tight, helps keep the front end loaded with more weight. I tow a 20 foot flat bed bumper pull with crew cab long bed dually on it all the time and its comparable to a gooseneck.

this^^^ timbrens are stout too!! i went with the firestone version.. supports very well with a lil more cushy ride then timbrens.

live life full throttle

uga33 · Mar 30, 2015

I am experiencing the same situation with my camper. Installed the Hellwig 7271. It helped but it's still a white knuckle ride. I was told to check this hitch out.
http://hensleymfg.com

sagebel · Mar 30, 2015

Hensleys are very pricey but are great hitches. I run the Reese Straight Line and once you get it set up it too is a great weight distribution hitch with sway control. Equalizer also makes a really good distribution/sway control hitch. I have heard that the Equalizer is easier to setup than the Reese.

Does the front axle feel light when turning?

B.Warning · Mar 30, 2015

If your hitch is slid out a foot, the first thing I'd do is slide that bltch in as far as you can and drill a new hole. That in itself will help a ton. Then I'd do bags (I don't have experience with timbrens). Traction bars are going to help also, I'm running bags and bars and don't have any sway issues. Granted my clunker is a dually but even with the stupid amount of weight I've had on my rear axle (10k lbs +) I haven't had any problems.

WHY NOT · Mar 30, 2015

I don't have sway issues with my SRW truck, but I normally have my GN hooked up and not a heavy bumper pull. But even when I have 4K in the bed my truck doesn't sway bad with the air bags and bars on. A rear sway bar I think would really help tie everything together.

But I agree with everyone you need to get that hitch taken care of first and get that trailer sitting level

Clean-15 · Mar 31, 2015

B.Warning said:
If your hitch is slid out a foot, the first thing I'd do is slide that bltch in as far as you can and drill a new hole. That in itself will help a ton. Then I'd do bags (I don't have experience with timbrens). Traction bars are going to help also, I'm running bags and bars and don't have any sway issues. Granted my clunker is a dually but even with the stupid amount of weight I've had on my rear axle (10k lbs +) I haven't had any problems.

Don't go too fan in though. I once smashed my bumper turning sharp going FORWARD due to a short setup.

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dsberman94 · Mar 31, 2015

Get the hitch setup right by a trailer shop or rv dealership near you. That in itself should be a world of difference. You should be able to pretty much lift the truck rear end off the ground with the load leveler bars once everything is set up right. They should at least re-level your truck. Our Bars were pretty beefy as well. Not sure what the max on them was but we were never close to maxing them out. We never had an issue with our 30' tow behind with a Reese hitch and bars. On a cclb 6.0 srw. That trailer was also quite tongue heavy. 04 coachmen chaparral 294 RKS iirc. Rv dealer set up the hitch the way it needed to be. We would adjust a chain link or two each direction on the bars depending on road conditions. Wet roads we wanted more weight on the rear end. Dry roads we could have a little less weight. Saved tires and ride was better than unloaded. Takes out the harshness over bumps and no bounce from the trailer. Truck had a Tecumseh prodigy controller with a boost function built in so the trailer brakes slowed down the truck more than the other way around. Start with getting the hitch set up then go from there with the bags and swaybars. Bet it hauls a hell of a lot better.